At the most recent meeting of the Driftwood Singers Oversight Committee, an ad hoc hearing was held on the subject of Gerry Rafferty. The committee members found that, though Rafferty’s band Stealers Wheel was indeed represented in an early Driftwood post, that did not in fact constitute a proper good faith fact-finding effort on the part of the board. Furthermore, statutes require that an immediate remedy to the omission be made within 72 hours of the next business day. Residents have until the next public hearing to amend or comment on the committee’s report.
* While it was not accepted as evidence of wrong-doing, the fact that the board has already found time to arrive at ruling on such artists as Bob Welch, Billy Joel, Melanie, Buffy St. Marie, Carl Sandburg, Journey, Al Jareau, B.W. Stevenson, Gordon Lightfoot. Jerry Jeff Walker, and dozens more, the members of the oversight committee acknowledged that this could create the appearance of prejudice toward the aggrieved parties.
* What’s more, the oversight committee unanimously agreed that Rafferty’s Scottishness granted him the right to immediate redress. The presence of McCartney-worthy milk-fattened bass-lines and syrupy harmonies on “The Long Way Round” do not constitute grounds for dismissal. Neither did the subsequent mega-success of songs like “Baker Street,” even with its sax stylings, nor the troubling depressed AM reggae-isms of “Right Down the Line” serve as grounds for delay. It was agreed that Rafferty’s association with the comedian Billy Connolly will not be entered into the official record.
In other business, the committee voted to continue funding for the “Transformative Change” initiative through the next fiscal year. And Joan Shearing was given permission to display her watercolors in the atrium of the meeting room.
“The Long Way Round” - Gerry Rafferty
3 comments:
I found this sentence at the end of the Rafferty wikipedia article: "He also has a niece called Kirsty Featherstone who is in love with Ross Fellows of Roker, Sunderland. He is noted to be the only person in Roker with a ginger beard, a lip ring and an arm full of freckles."
Considering our past acknowledgment of artists like Al Jarreau -- a credibility-burning moment for at least one board member -- the overlooking of G. Rafferty may in fact have been affirmation of a kind. In any case, great tune.
Great post, one of your best yet!
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